Chapter 15
The last time Daniella visited Hong Kong, she had been with her parents, and it hadn’t been a pleasant experience. They’d come to celebrate her birthday at Disneyland, but the day had been marred by constant quarreling, leaving her isolated in her room, crying and disappointed. Now, she was determined to replace that painful memory with something better, perhaps even amusing.
Who knew what awaited her this time?
After landing at the airport, she hailed a taxi to her hotel. She checked in and paid the room’s security deposit, then made her way to the elevator that would transport her to the nineteenth floor where her
room was situated.
Daniella had always felt uneasy about elevators, probably due to watching too many Asian horror movies where ghosts and supernatural beings often made appearances inside them.
She tried to calm herself as more guests entered the elevator, and she overheard conversations in Filipino, which comforted her. But when they reached the fifteenth floor, everyone else left except for her
and a man wearing a face mask.
Nervousness and fear began to creep over her. She hurriedly stepped out when the doors opened and briskly walked to her room. Glancing back, she noticed the man following her, which alarmed her. Clutching her card key tightly, she sprinted toward her room and only felt safe once she was inside.
Later, Daniella found herself laughing at her paranoia. The man who had followed her was likely just another guest with a room on the same floor. If he’d meant to harm her, he could have done so already.
right?
Feeling courageous and ready to explore Hong Kong, she changed into more comfortable winter attire. She dropped by the restaurant adjacent to the front desk for an early dinner and then set out for her
adventure.
After two hours of walking and sightseeing, Daniella returned to her hotel, ready to call it a night. She was exhausted and was beginning to drift off to sleep when she heard indistinct noises coming from the
adjacent room.
The hotel’s soundproofing didn’t seem to be sufficient, but she thought she could endure it. However the noises from her neighbor seemed excessively loud, making it impossible to ignore.
She called the front desk and requested that her call be connected to her neighbor. After ten attemp someone finally picked up the phone. It was a man with a pleasant, well–modulated voice, though Daniella wasn’t calling to offer compliments.
“Could you keep your noise down while having sex?” She was blunt, without any preamble, and warned
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Chapter 15
him that she could report him to the front desk for causing a public disturbance,
“Mind your own business, dear,” the man replied, further infuriating Daniella
“What did you say?” She raised her voice.
“If you’re bored, why don’t you join us?” he suggested.
Frustrated, Daniella hung up the phone before her tongue lashed out further. Could she have heard him correctly? Did he just invite her to join him? The audacity of that man! Dantella was seething with anger as she returned to bed, attempting to get some sleep,
The next morning, Daniella woke up late, feeling irritable and not in the mood to explore any of the tourist attractions in the city. She headed to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and went downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast. She was famished!
The breakfast was a buffet, offering a variety of options. Daniella served herself some rice and chicken curry and requested an omelet. She then searched for a table that was somewhat isolated from the other
guests.
Before digging into her food, she scanned the room for familiar faces, but most of the diners appeared to be Chinese and Indian. Only a few patrons were harder to classify by nationality, just like the man eating alone at a table not far from her.
She couldn’t help but glance at the man from head to toe. In all fairness, he looked incredibly attractive. He was tall, lean, and his long hair was tied up in a messy bun.
She typically disliked men with long hair, finding them unkempt, but in his case, she could forgive it. His blue eyes were an added bonus. Tanned skin and blue eyes equaled super–hot. She couldn’t help but wonder about his nationality.
As she took another peek at him, she was caught staring. Embarrassed, she quickly shifted her focus to her hot coffee, which turned out to be scalding hot, and she accidentally burned her tongue. Daniella cursed loudly, and the man seemed to hear her, laughing in response–or at least, that’s what she
assumed.
From that moment, she lowered her gaze and concentrated on her meal. After breakfast, Daniella decided to return to her room for some additional rest. While waiting for the elevator, the man with the blue eyes came over and greeted her.
“Hello,” he said.
His smile nearly made Daniella weak in the knees. How had she stumbled upon such an angel? “Hi. I’m sorry if you caught me staring earlier,” she apologized, and he nodded.
However, on the fifth floor, a seductive woman joined them and unabashedly expressed her interest in
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Chapter 15
the man. Using her flirtatious charm, she inched closer to the blue–eyed man, who seemed to enjoy the attention. Both of them exited the elevator on the eighteenth floor.
Daniella was disappointed by the audacious flirtation happening in broad daylight. It was her first time taking an interest in the opposite sex, and it was already proving to be a disaster.
Once inside her hotel room, she stood in front of the mirror and took a hard look at herself. It was painful to accept, but her appearance didn’t seem to exude sexiness and seduction. With a heavy sigh, she
climbed back into bed, covering herself from head to toe.
However, a few minutes later, Daniella had a change of heart. She decided to shop for some new clothing
at the department store on the second floor. She needed something nice to wear!
Who knew, she might encounter the perfect man in Hong Kong? Mr. Blue Eyes might have been a contender, but she disapproved of someone who openly flirted with anyone.
Marcus had to get off on the eighteenth floor to avoid raising Daniella’s suspicions. From there, he took the stairs up one floor, silently cursing his earlier mistake of following her into the elevator after breakfast. He couldn’t risk being recognized.
A brief encounter with another woman gave him an idea–what if he pretended she was his girlfriend? It might make him more visible to Daniella, and his job would become easier. But fate had other plans for
Marcus.
“Hey, going somewhere?” Marcus asked casually, waiting until the right moment to approach the woman who was waiting for the elevator on the third floor. He hoped she wouldn’t recognize his voice. It had been a while since he’d been with a woman, and when an old acquaintance had flirted with him, he hadn’t hesitated to invite her to his room. He didn’t expect his neighbor, Daniella, to have the audacity to call and complain about the noise!
Marcus was genuinely curious about Daniella, not just as a detective but as a man. He had been caught off guard by her bluntness and audacity when he answered her call. For someone who seemed educated, her behavior was surprisingly rude. What was the big deal if she overheard them? She could’ve just ignored it.
“Hello, where’s your girlfriend?” Daniella asked, noticing he was alone and seemingly flirting with her.
“Oh, I’m still single… and available! Can I get your name, Miss Beautiful?” He knew he shouldn’t be flirting with his subject, but he couldn’t help it–Daniella looked so fresh and pretty that morning
“Daniella Reyes, and yours if you don’t mind?” She observed that he was smooth and doubted any woman could resist his charm.
“Marcus Madrigal,” he said, instantly regretting revealing his real name.
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Daniella smiled and extended her hand. “Well, nice to meet you, Mr. Madrigal”
“Ah, just call me Marcus, Dani.” He caught himself addressing her by her first name, even though they weren’t close. When he glanced at her, he noticed her eyebrow raised in suspicion.
Just as Marcus started to wonder if he’d made a critical mistake, Daniella’s phone buzzed. Her expression changed as she read the message. Without a word, she stepped back, eyeing him warily
What had she just learned?
